Stonegate Investment Group LLC Buys Shares of 11,342 SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK)

Stonegate Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 11,342 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $351,000. Stonegate Investment Group LLC owned approximately 0.07% of SmartFinancial as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. bought a new position in SmartFinancial in the third quarter worth about $4,491,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 69.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 340,418 shares of the bank's stock worth $9,920,000 after purchasing an additional 139,009 shares during the last quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp boosted its position in SmartFinancial by 5,760.9% during the 2nd quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 66,990 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,586,000 after purchasing an additional 65,847 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC grew its stake in SmartFinancial by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 184,555 shares of the bank's stock worth $5,378,000 after buying an additional 35,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in SmartFinancial by 5.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 699,794 shares of the bank's stock worth $16,563,000 after buying an additional 35,054 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.78% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SMBK shares. Raymond James restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $42.00 price target (up previously from $36.00) on shares of SmartFinancial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens lowered shares of SmartFinancial from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their price objective on SmartFinancial from $28.00 to $32.50 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.70.

SmartFinancial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SMBK traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $35.12. 40,962 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 52,648. SmartFinancial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.00 and a fifty-two week high of $37.72. The firm has a market cap of $594.63 million, a PE ratio of 16.41 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

SmartFinancial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. SmartFinancial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.95%.

Insider Transactions at SmartFinancial

In related news, Director John M. Presley sold 6,916 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.05, for a total transaction of $242,405.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $138,798. This trade represents a 63.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,766 shares of company stock valued at $271,800. Corporate insiders own 7.68% of the company's stock.

About SmartFinancial

SmartFinancial, Inc operates as the bank holding company for SmartBank that provides various financial services to individuals and corporate customers in Tennessee, Alabama, and Florida. It operates through Commercial Real Estate, Consumer Real Estate, Construction and Land Development, Commercial and Industrial, Leases, and Consumer and Other segments.